At the same time Ark was searching for the princess, over in Brigandia...
“I see. So Ark went there himself.”
Within Brigandia’s royal palace, inside the office of the third prince, His Royal Highness Prince Alphonse Zerk Brigandia, who could be considered the boss of Ark McGuine’s boss, narrowed his eyes as he read the letter Ark had sent him. With his blond hair, blue eyes, slim figure, and gorgeous looks, any lady who saw his current expression would probably squeal with glee, but alas, the only people present to see it were male civil officials and knights of the royal guard well acquainted with the prince, so no one responded, squealing or otherwise. Not only did they not respond, but a number of them started feeling cold sweat running down their backs.
They knew. Whenever Alphonse made that face, two things were likely: either an unreasonable request was about to be made, or a major incident was imminent.
But no, Alphonse had just said Ark’s name. Ark was meant to be waiting at the city on the border to welcome Sylvario’s fourth princess, soon to be married into Brigandia. So where in the world was he supposedly going himself?
Though it was unclear if this letter conveyed bad news or not, everyone present was someone who had won Alphonse’s confidence, so they were all sharp. Very sharp.
While everyone else was internally deliberating, Alphonse had apparently decided on a course of action.
“My apologies, but can you send word to my elder brother to let him know that I’m coming to speak to him? It’s urgent.”
Alphonse had directed this request to one of the civil officials, who, upon receiving it, straightened up, replied, “U-Understood!” and left the room as quickly as he could without breaking into a run.
Alphonse’s elder brother—the second prince, Artur. Whatever this urgent matter was, it was going to be an unreasonable, major pain in the ass if they needed to get him involved.
(The first prince, Adolphe, had excused himself from politics for undisclosed reasons, so he was not to be involved. As a whole, no one was to mention him—he was untouchable.)
“Also, pick ten of your elites to be my guards,” Alphonse said to a nearby knight. “It will probably end up being a long trip, so make sure to get the horses and our traveling gear ready.”
“Y-Yes! I’ll get that ready on the double!” replied the knight, cold sweat beading along his hairline.
There was only one place Alphonse could be going in this situation, and that was the Kingdom of Sylvario, which they’d just been at war with. What’s more, Ark, who usually would have been made to accompany the prince, was apparently already there. Meaning they’d be the ones who had to go with him.
“Sheesh, I’m gonna have to bring some stomach meds with me...”
“You should already have them. I told you to always have some on you, didn’t I?”
Pretending not to hear his guards arguing very quietly with each other, Alphonse made his way to the second prince’s office. The moment the knights guarding the door saw his face, they immediately went inside to inquire, and the door opened a moment before he got to it. The knights acted without pause, and demonstrated that they were both observant and well-trained.
Just what I’d expect from my brother’s guards, Alphonse thought to himself as he walked right in, a smile still on his face.
“Pray forgive my intrusion while you’re so busy, brother. I came on an urgent matter.”
“Hello, Alphonse. If it’s something that has you in a tizzy when you’re always one step ahead, then it has to be a very serious matter indeed.”
While Artur resembled Alphonse overall, his face was softer, and he wore a gentle expression. If Alphonse could be described as having a sharp, icy beauty, Artur’s beauty was like sunshine on a spring day, bright with a gentle shine.
Walking up to his similar looking, yet completely different older brother, Alphonse handed Artur the letter from Ark.
“This is a report from Ark, who went to receive Sylvario’s fourth princess. It seems as though the situation may be more than he can handle on his own, so I would like to go there directly myself.”
“Now?!” Artur exclaimed, before continuing, “No, if you’re the one saying it, then it must be something incredibly important.”
Alphonse’s sudden request shocked Artur, but in a moment he collected himself and settled his expression once more—as a royal, he had learned to adapt to situations like this. Then, he took the letter and began reading it over.
“That’s right, Viscount Ark McGuine writes that he doesn’t believe he can handle this alone. His intuition is sharp at times like this,” Alphonse remarked.
“Because he’s been especially conditioned to sense danger by a certain someone?” prodded Artur.
“Oh, I think he’d already been good at it. Though he might’ve gotten better at it afterwards.”
Artur’s wry quip was met with Alphonse’s unbreakable smile. The knight behind Alphonse seemed to want to say something, but he stayed silent, and the prince wasn’t going to say anything either. Ultimately, it would be wise for Artur to look the other way.
“Well, we’ll just have to defer our discussion on just how Ark came to develop such a finely honed instinct for danger for another day. But in all honesty, I find it very difficult to approve for you to go to Sylvario right now,” Artur admitted.
“Of course you would,” Alphonse replied. “Some people may jump to conclusions if their princess’s betrothed suddenly arrived in their country when the political situation has yet to settle down from the war. As royalty from an enemy country, they already hate me. Some might think that they could save their princess from this marriage by getting rid of me.”
“Obviously I knew you’d know that, but are you trying to say that there are advantages to going yourself, despite the risks?”
Alphonse nodded slowly to Artur’s question with his usual smile—or no, it might have been a few degrees colder.
“Yes, of course. First of all, there probably aren’t many people who’d be that shortsighted, but...”
“What do you mean? Ah, because the highways you’d be taking would be far from the war’s principal battlefield?”
“That’s one reason. It’s why I chose that spot for it, after all.”